End construction for mine or similar cars



Nov. 18, 1941. H. HfPANcAKE END CONSTRUCTION FOR MINE OR S IMI LAR CARS Filed June 1o, 1959 I /v l H124: ,il/N E' f C) C) @l igggf ilk )I l Z 54 l I l |44 40 I' A? 33 2 W1 46 6 Lg /4 INVENTOR L G .4i 2/ O iw@ #emga/z H Fmzcaie suurg ATTO R N EY Patented Nov. 18, 1941 Herman H. Pancake, Berwick, Pa., assignor to American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of` New Jersey Application June 10, 1939, Serial No. 278,459

(Cl.l Z13-e221) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to end constructions for cars in 'general and in particular to such end constructions for use on mine or industrial cars.

The majority of mine cars have been built with the bumpers cushioned only by small wood blocks, if at all, but in recent years it has been found necessary to cushion the buing shocks in order to increase the life of the cars and prevent damage to locomotives and other equipment. The majority of the cushioned bumper constructions have necessitated the construction of expensive and special end constructions. It is an object, therefore, `of the present invention to provide a simple inexpensive spring bumper arrangement which may be readily applied to the bulk of existing cars with a minimum of alterations, thereto.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an end construction having a bumper cushioned by springs mounted in timbers in such a manner as to distribute the bufling load to the ends of the timbers.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a spring bumper backed up by wood beams capable of cushioning the bufling shocks in case of failure or overloading of the bumper springs. n

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a car with a strong end construction which is prevented from sagging by the use of long timbers and one in which the buiing shocks areY absorbed by springs recessed in the timbers.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the improved end construction with parts thereof broken away to better disclose the internal construction.;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Fig. 3 is an end View of the improved construction. i

Referring now to the drawing in detail it will be seen that the end construction has been applied to a car having side sills 2 formed of inverted bulb angles with the flanges 4 directed outwardly and adapted to support the gunwales or side lading portions 6. The center floor 8 extends from side sill to side sill and has its side edges anged upwardly as at I0 in order that the floor may be secured to the inverted bulb angles in any suitable manner. The customary cross ties or belts I2 extend beneath the central floor portion, side sills and side lading portions 05 in order to tie the car together and prevent sagging of the floor sections.

4The end construction in the present instance is formed by timbers I4 supported upon the central floor portion and having their rear ends abutting a side sill cross tie I6. This cross tie is preferably' of Z formation having one flange I8 secured to the central floor and the other flange directed 4outwardly toward the end of the car and attached to the drawbar` 20, which may extend continuously from end to end ofthe car. The web of the Z formed side sill tie is preferably secured to the vertical leg of the inverted bulb side sills by short angle members 22. The timbers are secured to the side sill cross tie by means of bolts or similar devices 24 extending through the timbers and through the upper flange of the cross tie as well as through the central floor portion. Certain of these bolts or similar devices also extend through the main drawbar previously referred to and also through the short auxiliary drawbar 26. The short auxiliary drawbar is connected at one end to the main 'drawban while at its other end it is directed upwardly and outwardly in spaced relation to Ythe' main drawbar in order to provide space therebetween fork reception of a coupling link (not shown) carried by coupling pin or bolt 28. The timbers may be of such a depth as to completely occupy the space between the central floor and the top flange of the side sill cross tie, butv in the present instance where a narrow bumper face was desired it was found necessary to use a filler 30 between the timbers and the center floor portion. It is, of course, obvious that if it were desired to maintain the same bumper facebut lower the same, then the filler could be placed above the timbers.

As 'clearly shown in the drawing, a relatively thin metal timber cap is provided having an upper flange 32 and lower ange 34 joined together by a substantially vertical web 36. This vertical web is provided with any suitable number of openings 38, adjacent which are welded or otherwise secured tubular members 40 closed at their inner end by face plate 42v securely welded or 4otherwise fastened to the tubular members. It will thus be seen that these tubular membersI arewelded, as shown in the drawing, to the web plate and extend between the flanges of the timber cap thus forming a plurality of cups or pockets extending inwardly from the cap face 'and adapted to receive springs 44. One end of these springsv rests upon the face plate of the cup, while the other end rests upon a-'spring centering lug 46 welded or otherwise secured to the inner surface of the bumper face. The timber cap web rests directly against the ends of the timbers, while the spring cups extend inwardly therefrom into recesses bored or otherwise cut into the ends of the timbers and of such a depth that the cup base will have a rm seat upon the bottom of the bored or cut out portion. The bumper itself is of conventional construction having upper and lower anges 50 and 52 joined together by web 54 which forms the face of the bumper and which is curved the proper amount as required by mine conditions. The flanges of the bumper are formed with elongated slots 56 through which bolts or other securing means 58 may extend thereby preventing removal of the bumper under rebound of the springs since the-se bolts' extend through the timbers as well as through the timber cap. The timber cap is secured to the timbers not only by bolts 58 but also by bolts or other means 60 extending through the belt or tie I2, center floor 8 and the timbers. These bolts prevent any upward tilting tendency of the end construction since they are anchored to the heavy belts or cross ties .Where any downward tilting tendency is prevented by the side sill cross tie. It will thus be seen that a rigid end construction has been provided in which the timbers have been protected against damage by a cap which will also distribute the spring load received from the bumper over the entire outer ends of the timbers.

From the preceding description it will be seen that the end construction and spring bumper may be easily applied to existing car constructions with a minimum of alterations since the old bumper cap may be used in most cases and it becomes necessary only to modify the old end construction, substituting therefor the timbers and the backing strip, which also serves as a side sill cross tie. In a large number of cases the cars themselves are of the type shown by Patent 1,626,653 and have continuous timbers running from end to end. With cars of this type it is only necessary to bore the timbers to receive the cups of the timber cap which, of course, must be constructed new. In any case, whether it be an old or a new construction, the clearances are so arranged that the inner surface of the bumper face will strike the vertical web f:

of the timber cap either before or at the same time that the springs would go solid thereby preventing any damage to the springs. In case the springs should fail, the structure is still operative and will cushion the bufiing shocks slightly at least through the action of the timbers forming the end construction.

While the end construction, its application and use has been described more or less in detail, it is obvious that various modications and rearrangements of parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. An end construction for mine or similar cars having spaced side sills, timbers located between said sills, a cap protecting the ends of said timbers and formed with a substantially vertically extending surface, a bumper slidably mounted on said cap and formed with a substantially vertically extending surface, and resilient means interposed between said cap and bumper for urging the latter outwardly away from the cap, said resilient means being recessed into said timbers whereby the overall length of the end construction may be decreased and said vertically extending surfaces may contact each other without damaging said resilient means.

2. An end construction for mine or similar cars having spaced side sills, timbers located between said sills, a channel shaped cap having the flanges thereof overlapping the timbers and the web thereof abutting the ends thereof, a channel form bumper having the flanges overlapping the flanges of said cap and the web spaced outwardly of said cap web, and resilient means interposed between said webs and urging said webs apart, said resilient means passing through openings in the web of the cap and being recessed in said timbers whereby the overall length of the end yconstruction may be decreased and said Webs may contact each other without damaging said resilient means.

3. An end construction for mine or similar cars having spaced side sills, timbers located between said sills, a channel-shaped cap having the flanges thereof overlapping the timbers and the web thereof abutting the ends thereof, outwardly opening pockets secured to said cap web and projecting rearwardly between said cap flanges, said pockets extending into recesses in said timbers, a channel form bumper having the flanges overlapping the flanges of said cap and the web spaced outwardly of said cap web, and resilient means positioned in said outwardly opening pockets and urging said webs apart, said resilient means being so formed and arranged as to be forced into said pockets under heavy bumping forces thereby permitting said webs to contact each other and prevent transfer of excessive bumping forces to said resilient means.

4. As an article of manufacture a timber cap for use in car end construction comprisingi, spaced apart substantially parallel metal plates joined together by a perforate front metal plate positioned at right angles thereto, and pockets closed at their inner ends and secured at their open outer ends to said last named metal plate at a perforation, said pockets being positioned wholly between said parallel metal plates and adapted to receive resilient means projecting outwardly from said perforate front metal plate.

5. As an article of manufacture a timber cap for use in car end constructions comprising, a curved upright web joining together substantially horizontal parallel flanges, an opening in said web, a pocket closed at its inner end and secured at its outer end to said web adjacent the edges of the opening and adapted to receive resilient means projecting through said web and outwardly thereof.

6. As an article of manufacture a timber cap for use in car end yconstructions comprising, an outwardly curved upright web joining together substantially horizontal parallel flanges, spaced openings in said web, and spaced pockets closed at their inner ends and secured at their outer ends to said web at the openings and adapted to receive resilient means projecting through said web and outwardly thereof.

7. An end construction for mine or similar cars having spaced side sills and timbers arranged between the side sills with the end portions thereof extended beyond the ends of said sills to provide a shock absorbing medium, a bumper slidably supported by said timbers and provided with a substantially vertically arranged bumping surface, and resilient means for absorbing bufling shocks to which the bumper is subjected, said resilient means having their longer dimension arranged longitudinally of the car and having one end portion insetl into the ends of said timbers and the opposite end portion projected beyond said timbers into contact with the inner face of said bumping surface, means for limiting the outward movement of the bumper relative to said timbers, said resilient means being thereby normally retained under compression to constantly urge said bumper outwardly, the projection of said resilient means beyond the ends of said timbers being of an amount suicient to permit said bumping surface to contact the ends of said timbers under buiiing shocks before said resilient means goes solid whereby to prevent damage to said resilient means.

HERMAN H. PANCAKE. 

